Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 9/20

Goal: ~35-45 mpw by Christmas; stay healthy/consistent

Goal Race: possible Spring HM; fall '16 Marathon

Mon-off (planned)

Tues-4

Wed-5

Thurs-off (unplanned)

Fri-4

Sat-5 (4 + 1 of diagonals at slightly above MP)

Sun-7

Total: 25 (of 29)

Longest LR over a decade, and for the first time, I did a run where I didn't think about my pace, or my time or anything really; just ran and it felt great (and to boot I was comfortably within the range I've been running in, so I know the distance and the pace weren't too much for me).

Feel like with everything I'm finally in a place where running is an equal priority and just another part of my day, not something that can be scrapped because something else comes up. Hope this week I can hit my goal mileage (same as last week) and be one step closer to getting where I want to go.

Hope everyone has/had a good week!

stone cutter - Thanks, just finished up my last few workouts this week, and now only 7 days left until the marathon, fly out in a few days. Also solid 5K in the middle of some heavy training

slo-twitch - 12 miles as MP (slightly above) is solid

Niceguy - Sorry you didn't hit your goal, but looks like you ran a very smart race with those splits

Oklahomaguy - Great 5K race and huge PR, congrats

RunnersFix - some heavy mileage and strong workouts, looking forward to how you taper and looking forward to your race results soon

As for my week, still continuing my taper, my last big workout was on Tuesday and it went very well, looking forward to my legs feeling a bit lighter (which they have finally started doing).

M: 12

Tu: 17, including 12 X 1K with 1K recovery (so 15 miles). The 1K recovery was meant to be at 6:00 pace, the 1K "on" goal was ~3:12. Overall ran faster:

1K "on": 3:07 average (range of 3:10 - 3:05) so right at 5:00 pace

1K "recovery": 3:42 average (3:47 - 3:40 range) so about 5:57 pace

total workout; 15 miles in 1:21:48 (5:27 pace)

W: planned off

Th: 8

Fr: 8

Sa: 10 miles with 20X 1 min on / 30 seconds off (30 mins total): "on" segments were ~5:00-5:10, "off" between 5:40 - 6:15. Averaged 5:27 pace for 30 mins.

Su: 10 easy

Total: 65

Well the taper is starting to feel better, still had a very long workout this week, but from now on it is basically easy running. Thought about doubling a few days this week but I think at this point the work has been put in and I just need to get to the race. Hope everyone else had good weeks.

M – 2 mi w/u, 8 x 1k in 3:25 on grass with 1 min rest , 2 mi c/d, core. Was more of a “recovery” workout, the goal being just to turnover the legs.

T – 9 mi @ 7:30/mi, strides

W – 2 mi w/u, 6 x 1500m XC loop with 3 min rest, 2 mi c/d, core. This workout is notorious at my school – it is somewhat of a figure 8 that has approximately 60 meters of vertical climbing (although that also means there are some nice descents as well). Goal pace was 10k XC race pace (for a similarly difficult course) – we managed to run all the intervals between 4:55 and 4:50, so a VERY good effort.

T – 11 mi @ 7:00/mi, strides

F – 4 mi @ 7:00/mi

Sa – 3 mi w/u, 30 min continuous progression, 3 mi c/d. Each 10 min, pace was increased, starting at 5:35/mi -> 5:20/mi -> 5:10/mi. Really good effort, happy to get in a tough aerobic session after some shorter intervals.

Su – 15 mi long run @ 7:00/mi

TOTAL – 70 miles

sdp - great to hear you have your solid attitude to running back. numbers aren't important on easy runs you're right :)

back into it - sharpening up well man. looking good :)

upnorth - solid endurance quality this week

i got back on it after a down week. ran more miles than i had planned but still feeling good

Mon: 6 miles (7:39)

Tue: 9.83 miles with 12 x 500m (90sec jog) 1:36,1:34,1:34,1:32,1:33,1:34,1:33,1:34,1:34,1:34,1:32,1:36 = 1:34.35 avg.

Wed: 4 miles (7:33)

Thu: 4 miles (7:15)

Fri: 3.1 miles (7:33)

Sat: ~8 miles with 5.848km relay leg in 19:06 or 19:07?. This was the annual regional relays with each team having 6 runners. The reason for the weird distance is just because its a loop of the park we ran around. There's always a good standard of runner here so its great to see all the faster guys battling it out. I was off 2nd in our team and after our 1st lad ran a blinder of a leg, he came back 6th so i was just hoping to hold onto that position, which i did pretty comfortably. I think our team finished 11th in the end which is a few places down from last year after we've had a few injuries and people have left the club so the team had to be reshuffled. Still, all of the runners in our team are sub 17 5K runners so as i said, the quality of the field is great. The undulating loop and hot conditions made it tough as well

Sun: 12.4 miles (7:29)

Week Total: 47.33 miles

:)

Goal Race: San Jose Rock n Roll Half Marathon

(7 days)

Mon- 10 miles at 7:28 / 4 miles at 7:12. Weights.

Tue- 10 miles at 7:24 / 4 miles at 7:18. Strides.

Wed- 12 miles. 5xmile with 3 min active rest. 4:45 avg. (4:55, 4:51, 4:45, 4:41, 4:37)

Thur- 10 miles at 7:28 / 4 miles at 7:13. Weights.

Fri- 16 miles at 6:31 avg. No progression.

Sat- 12 miles at 7:31. Lite weights.

Sun- 12 miles at 7:35. Strides.

Total- 94 miles

Pretty good week for me. I only had one quality session but that was the plan. Mile repeats on Tuesday went pretty well. I didn't plan on running them that fast but the pace just came to me. I closed really strong. For the long run Friday the goal was to just keep it easy. I got down to 5:48 pace at the end and felt comfortable. Overall, there's nothing else left but to recover. The race is on Sunday at 8am. I just want to thank everyone for the encouragement I have gotten for my training. I know I haven't been able to comment much so it makes it even more appreciative. It really helps to have other runners opinions. The only goal I have set is the OTQ. Anything else won't be to useful. I'm keeping a positive attitude and feel ready to run fast. Back Into It- Good luck in your marathon. You have been crushing it in training. You're way overdue for something special. Just run smart and don't push too early. It should be boring the first 10ish miles. Most importantly have fun.

Next Race November 4 miles on the road

Goal Sub 22

Mon 4 miles 8:25 pace with form drills + strides

Tue 6.92 miles 8:18 pace with strength training

Wed 5.1 miles 7:39 pace

Thu 5.22 miles 7:38 pace

Fri AM 3.97 miles 8:28 pace PM 1.2 miles 9:09 pace with form drills + strides

Sat ~2mile WU 16x200m (36 average) with 200m jog rest ~2mile CD

Sun 1:36:44 (have not measured)

This week had a lot of changes for me running wise. I thought it was no longer safe to run in the mornings, as it was way too dark. So I switched to running on my lunch break. The biggest drawback will be that I'll be limited to ~40 minutes and won't be able to do my form drills or strength training. To offset this I will run little mini doubles after work on days that I don't work at my 2nd job.

Saturday's splits were the following:

39, 40, 38, 39, 38, 38, 37, 36

36, 35, 35, 35, 34, 34, 33, 29.1 (PB)

Previous best for 200m was 30.8.

StoneCutter - Thanks, I feel like the loop was missing me too haha. I felt good coming off the volume from Saturday but I more and more unsure of myself with each passing day. I suppose that is a somewhat common thing to doubt yourself as the bigger races come closer.

SDP - Congrats on the LR! Good to hear that running is becoming more and more important as well.

BackIntoIt - Super week. You're looking super fit and I can't wait to see how the race goes.

UpNorth - Solid work for xc training! Do you feel like the terrain on the 1500 loop makes it closer to mile effort if it were on a better surface?

Matthias - Very nice 500 workout! Did all the efforts feel pretty even?

RunnersFix - Great mile reps like always. I know I won't be the only one constantly refreshing the results to see how you do.

My week:

M - 5 / 7.5

T - 9.5 / 4

W - 9 / 4

R - 10 with hill sprints / 5

F - AM: 2mi wu, 3mi 16:11, 6mi 36:33, 3mi 16:30, 2mi cd. PM: 4

S - 8 / 4.5

S - 10.5 / 4

Total: 102

A little bit of a down week in terms of intensity. Coming off pretty high volume from last Saturday I wanted to ensure that I was completely recovered. Thought about working out Thursday but pushed it back to Friday. Did 3 at marathon effort, 6 moderate, then 3 more at marathon effort. Felt very easy and glad I waited an extra day. Racing the Akron Half Marathon this upcoming Saturday (9/26) as the last hard long effort before the marathon in October. I hope everyone has a great week!

Goal: Stay healthy

Stats: 37, male, 5ft 11in, 168 lbs.

Goal Race: Philly Marathon (11/22)

Goal Time: sub-2:48 (~6:25/mi pace)

Next Race: Possible 18 miler on 10/11

M - 8.1mi

T - 8mi // 4.6mi. Strides.

W - 12mi including road interval workout*

Th - 5mi // 5.2mi

F - 12mi

Sa - 7.1mi including 3mi moderate** // 3mi

Su - 20.1mi including 10mi tempo***

Weekly Total: 85.1 miles

YTD Total: 2,375.2 miles

*6 x 1mi off 1:45-:50 jogs. 5:51 45 43 44 42 30. (5:43/avg, ~111% MP). 6:16/avg for the 7.2mi overall. Absolutely destroyed the workout this time. Took all of the first rep to get my legs to turnover, but I was in cruise control reps 2-5. Ran the last one as fast as I could at a relaxed pace, but it wasn't all out and I was able to transition into the recovery jog afterward just like all the others. Big, big confidence booster.

**Last 3mi ~6:55/mi as part of a teammate's tempo run. Just enough effort to turn the legs over a bit.

***3mi easy, 10mi continuous alternating tempo as (.5mi at 105% MP, .5mi at 98% MP), 7.1mi easy. Splits for the tempo: 3:02/3:14, 3:03/3:15, 3:02/3:16, 3:02/3:13, 3:02/3:15, 3:01/3:15, 3:02/3:13, 3:01/3:15, 2:59/3:16, 2:54/3:13. 62:33 for the 10mi (6:15/avg), 2:24:24 for the whole run (7:11/mi). Once again, felt really strong. Another big confidence booster.

Despite the great week, I am trying not to get too high or too low after any single run or workout. Taking it day by day and week to week, just like every mile in a marathon. It's not the individual splits that count, it's the overall average so to speak. Plus I can't get too big of a head because I have my first special block on the schedule for next Sunday, haha.

Hope everyone else had a great week.

Stonecutter- thanks man, hoping can hold it together 3 more weeks! looking forward to checking out your week

Back into it- looks like a really smart taper with great canova-esque alternating k's session to cap off the training. good luck in Berlin

Upnorth- wow sounds like a serious 1500 loop. Nice 4 mile race last week

Matthias- when is the next big race? I want to see sub 32 10k! Sounds like you have a cool team circuit

Sdp- good luck with the buildup

Hereford- I've been doing some recovery runs around those same paces. Also just got confirmation I'll be running Boston in April too/ pretty pumped

I will post some more comments later today or tmrw when folks post their training

my training-

m- *AM- workout, 8 mile tempo (4+go) with first 4 @101%mp (6:02) last 4 at 5:41 pace (5:51/:52 overall for the 8)

Pm- 4.5

t- 8.5/4.5

w-9.5

th- *20 mile progression w/last 5@mp (1st 5@6:57, next5@6:41, then 6:26, last 5@6:04), 6:32 overall for 20, 1st 10-6:49, 2nd 10-6:15

f-8.5

s-9/5

su- 10

90 miles for the week, from Friday through thurs hit 95 in 7 days (just the one long run) with 81.5 in singles- most I have done. Time to start winding down a bit, 3 wks out from Chicago

I didn't refresh the forum & everyone posted while I was typing my previous comments...

So a few more comments

The thread is getting really interesting now that everyone's goal races are starting to happen

Runnersfix- will be rooting for you. your training has obviously been really great and you deserve to hit that OTQ standard. Hopefully there will also be a solid, well paced pack to work with

Forcerunner- smart to chill after that block last week. I'm not anywhere near your kind of shape, but it took me 5 easy days to bounce back from that specific block a few weeks ago. I like that Friday workout. Any goal time in mind for the half next weekend?

Stonecutter- what a week. Will you please adjust the goal down to at least 2:45?! (If not your og 2:43?).. You destroyed those workouts sir; that alternating pace workout in particular should give you a lot of confidence

jwil- looking forward to hearing about the race

slo-twitch wrote:

Stonecutter- what a week. Will you please adjust the goal down to at least 2:45?! (If not your og 2:43?).. You destroyed those workouts sir; that alternating pace workout in particular should give you a lot of confidence.

As I said last week, the goal time is going to fluctuate depending on how the cycle unfolds. 2:48 right now looks like a "safe" goal, while 2:45 is probably a strong "realistic" goal. My teammate is bouncing back from her hamstring injury rather quickly and she got in 16mi with 9mi sub-6:30 yesterday, so I might still be going out at 2:43 on race day. We'll see. This week was a big confidence booster (especially today), but taking it day by day and week by week.

Strong week for you, too. That's a great amount of miles in singles.

sdp - Good work getting back into the routine, it will make a world of difference consistently getting in 5 or 6 runs every week

back into it - best of luck in your marathon! Your training has been impressive and you should be very confident in your fitness.

Matthias - that relay looks like a lot fun, with a VERY deep field. I can't imagine too many regions where a team composed of all sub 17 runners would come 11th over that distance.

RunnersFix - Best of luck with the OTQ, you are going to crush it! Those mile repeats were impressive in and of themselves.

Running again - Nice 200 PB! Always a good time getting in some speed

Forcerunner - Crazy consistent mileage as always, with a nice workout on Friday. I would definitely say the 1500m loop would be fairly representative of mile effort, especially given the actual pace for the loop is far closer to tempo than 10k race pace

Stonecutter - great intensity, the 20 miler looks really strong. As others have said, 2:48 should be a walk in the park

slo-twitch - you and Stonecutter with the 20 milers... I am in awe of those long MP workouts

Cross Country Training Week 2:

Mon- 8 at 6:41

Tue- 7 at 6:49 + strides

Wed- 55-56 min w/1,2,3,2,1,2,3,2,1 fartleck (1 off) ~8-8.5 total (watch wasn't working right)

Thur- 6 at 6:39

Fri- 6 at 6:31+ strides

Sat- 2 up, 5k in 16:09 (4:51, 5:29, 5:59 last 1.1), 2 down

Sun- 4 at 6:44 + 4x :06 hill sprint

Total: 46 miles

After a few weeks of around 60 miles, my coach wanted me to take a pretty big cut back week just to make sure my body catches up. I haven't really done any real workouts yet, but I'm slowly adding in more tempo/fartleck work. However, I've been running much faster than last year just off mileage.

We had our first dual meet this past Saturday on a fairly flat and accurate course. Because I race dual meets almost every weekend, my coach wants me to just cruise through the early meets so I'll run well when it counts. When the gun went off the other team's #1 runner shot out like a bat out of hell, putting 5 seconds on me before the first quarter mile. By the mile I had gradually reeled him in, but I still ended up going out fairly quick for this time of year (it still felt really easy). After the other runner settled into a pretty slow pace and about 1.75 miles in I separated from him. From there I just cruised it in. I went 16:46 on this course going all out last year, so I was surprised I went 16:09 feeling like I had a bunch left. This was technically a PR, but I easily could have gone 20+ seconds faster if I actually pushed the last two miles.

I hope everyone else had a good week!

Goal: Being able to handle 70mpw/ Being faster overall

Stats: 25, male, 5ft 11in, 154 lbs.

Goal Race: 10k in December

Goal Time: sub-40:00

M - 9mi (9:36)

T - 9mi (8:48)- Progression run

W - 10mi (9:28)

Th - 8mi (9:55)

Fr - Nothing

Sa - AM 4mi LT (7:01 avg.) + 2-3 min rest + 3k @ 10k pace (4:01-4:10-4:30)

PM 8mi (9:25)

Su - Nothing

Weekly Total: 50 miles

Tough end of the week, I was really tired starting Thursday. My family is visiting for a week so my planning is very different. I canceled my long run but still did my Friday quality run on Saturday. One good note for my running, I did my first double ever.

Next week should be tougher.

My friday session was slower than anticipated.

I will post my comments in the next post.

Stone, thanks for keeping this thread alive. It is about the only thing that I pay attention to on this site any longer. In general, things have degraded here over the years, but this thread continues to be nothing but constructive and inspiring.

I'm jealous of you guys posting 80 or 100 mile weeks. It's been far too long since I put one of those on the board. But I'll have to stay patient as I rebuild my base over the next few months.

Another simple week for me, 50 miles, all easy except for a few strides and hill sprints. The temps here (San Diego) have remained warm even early in the mornings. The crisper fall mornings should hit about the same time that my legs start getting back to normal. Looking forward to those faster paces.

M - 8m easy

T - 4m easy, with 6x10sec steep hill sprints

W - 8m easy

T - 8m easy

F - 8m easy

S - 10m easy, with 10x100m strides

S - 4m easy, with 7x10sec steep hill sprints

Light strength/core each day.

This is the first time since April that I have run all 7 days in a single week. Pretty psyched to be back in a rhythm.

I was planning to do 8-10m today, but I needed to cut things short to get home and start smoking a brisket. Should be ready by the Seahwaks-Packers game tonight.

Next race: Freshman Race at invitational on Saturday (2.5 miles)

Goal: Top 10 and under 13:45

M: 4 x mile on a flat XC trail with 6 minutes rest in 5:37, 5:32, 5:30, 5:30. Coach wanted my group to hit 5:26 but the sharp turns on the trail slowed us down.

T: 4 after watching a running documentary

W: 8 x 200m with 3 minutes rest and 5 minutes after the 4th one. All of them in 30 seconds.

Th: 0- Missed practice because of an orthodontist appointment and couldn't run on my own because of a severe thunderstorm.

F: AM- 120 on the pacer test in PE (1.5 miles). Again, didn't go hard because of the meet the next day.

PM- 4

Sat: Peoria Notre Dame Invitational on State Meet course (3 miles)- 69th out of 408 in fresh-soph race (23rd freshman) in 16:38.

Sun: 6

Total: 35

Peoria Notre Dame Invitational- This was a huge race with over 400 people in it and a lot of top freshmen and sophomores. Got boxed in at the beginning but got out at around the 1/2 mile mark and caught up to my teammates. Had a lot of people to push me during the race, but it was hard to pass anybody until around halfway. The last mile ended up being me just trying to hold on, and I surprised myself with a fast time. My time currently puts me at #6 all time for freshmen from my school. Splits: 5:23, 5:39, 5:36.

Hope everyone had a great week.

The Stone cutter: Great for your Wednesday and Sunday workouts, good luck for your special block next Sunday. Are you following Canova? My confidence is slowly boosting.

slo-twitch: Thank you very much for your kind work. Knowing that you were once over 40minutes for 10k and now having goals as low as 2:40 is great. Congrats on your last long run.

Niceguy542007: Congrats on your marathon time. I believe 10 weeks is enough for you to get your BQ, you already have a solid base.

sdp: Great for your long run and I can see your 35-45mpw going to happen soon.

back into it: I believe the work has been done as well, you need to arrive fresh for your marathon. Nice Tuesday session.

UpN0rth: Good weekly mileage. I like your Saturday continuous run.

Matthias: Nice race on Saturday, you seem to run quite often.

Runnersfix: Good luck in a week, the work is done now. What do you do for the weights?

Running again: You are motivated to incorporate running into your life. I am impressed. Keep it up.

KXBC: Great beginning of the season, hope it is a good indicator for the rest.

Hereford: Good luck an stay patient. That's a good week.

IllinoisRunner: #6 all-time for freshman is really impressive, hope you can improve that even more in the following months.

Comments from last week

Forcerunner- Ahhh I can't wait for you to run this marathon! You should feel confident after how well you have been doing, especially your special blocks. And since we talked about shoes the other day, what shoes are you running your marathon in?

back into it- I don't like tapers at first, but after I get over the weirdness the first few days it feels great. I usually like to do one last hard workout during at the beginning of the taper just to have confidence in my fitness.

slo-twitch- god dang dude. Nice 12 miler. I've never asked but what are your other PRs? You should also be feeling confident about the marathon.

Running again- Nice splits on the tempo! Tempos with really even rhythm feel incredible.

Stone Cutter- Depletion run sounds interesting but also atrocious. Did that pace feel difficult?

pewow- Nothing much too say other than that looks like a solid base week for an 800 guy. Are you planning to peak for the 800 in spring like a normal track season?

IllinoisRunner- Don't feel bad about the time trial. You had a hard week before that. Good running at the 2.5 miler. I think that's a pretty hard distance to pace for and I've never done it right.

RunnersFix- You seem to be in good shape! Seems like the big day is coming soon for lots us here. Good luck to all of you.

TannerD22- Awesome race dude! You used my favorite strategy. There is nothing like seeing other runners who started out too fast going backwards as you chomp up the meters!

Goals: Sub 17:30 5k, place well as a team at state (hopefully top 3), top 30 as an individual at state

Male, sophomore, 15

M: 0.9 jog to HS gym + 2.25 easy + 1 all out 400.*

T: 0.35 jog to HS + 3.5 easy + 4x150 strides/ 0.5 warmup + 2x9 minute fartlek on 400m grass loop with a small "speed bump" of sorts, a little ridge that goes up and back down + 0.7 cooldown**

W: 3.6 easy + 4x50 strides./ 0.5 warmup +1x800 at tempo+ 2x600 at goal 5k pace+ 3x400 at mile pace. + 0.6 cooldown.***

T: 3.5 easy/ 0.5 warmup +4x200 strides + 2 miles cooldown. Didn't agree with this workout but it didn't affect me come race day so not too big a deal.

F: 0.9 easy (traditional pre-race day for my team)

S: 1.5 w/u + 5k race in 17:47 (23rd) + 1.2 c/d****

S: Planned Rest

Total: 35

*All morning mileage was indoors because of lightning storm. All out 400 wasn't really all-out because of the tight turns we were doing around our basketball gym.

**All my workouts are on a 400 grass loop for a while because they are redoing our schools track. We got about 4 minutes recovery I think for the fartleks. Wasn't as hard as the last one but still a good session.

*** Kinda sore from the fartlek but not too bad. The tempo was in 3:10, the 600s right on pace at 2:06 for both, and the 400s in 79-78-77. Hard workout even though we got full recovery after everything.

****Very happy about this race but disappointed because my teammate outkicked me at the end. Beat me by about 0.4 seconds. Big PR for me, first time under 18. My school keeps a list of the top 50 XC runners to ever run there and I am now number 44. Anyway, feeling very confident about sub 17:30 now. My coach even said to me he thinks I may have a shot at sub 17. Pacing was okay for this race, lots of small up and downs made it hard to judge it though. I feel like I could've run better. All of it was on the state course so I should be feeling comfortable on the big day!